Safety and Resource Protection at Fuel Breaks

Teamwork in Mechanized Equipment Task Forces

Machines Built for Night and Day Operation

HOME

MECHANIZED BASICS: Order, Transport and ICS

James Steele and Obie O’Brien

Basic training and plans are crucial for effective emergency response. This axiom may be universally accepted, yet not well executed when requesting mechanized resources. Learning from successful deployments is essential to advance our knowledge of available tools and practice with reliable expertise. We easily focus on damage by the machines we use. Yet, natural resource protection and improvements best accomplished with machinized options require focus on mechanical design, including machine capabilities and limitations.

The following 3-part series of articles outline basic considerations for ordering and moving heavy equipment to where it is needed; in particular, forestry machines commonly used for sustainable forest management. Let’s correctly order forestry machines for the planned wildfire incident task. Figure in logistics, field management and machine transport contingencies. Consider staging mechanized resources for ready action and positive results.

Jim Steele owns Jocko Consulting, Arlee, Montana. He is a consulting forester and wildland firefighter with many qualifications from almost 50 years of service, including Safety Officer and Heavy Equipment Technical Specialist (HETS).

We’re picking up where we left off to re-launch Mechanized Forest and Fire Operations. Fire season 2017 unfolded with a vengeance, and this Spring forebodes another long and costly fire season in several areas of the country.

We'll continue to share information on the essential role and versatility of forestry machines for the benefit of us all who strive to improve natural resource management. Contact us with your field stories and photos.

This month we are updating our feature article, adding new images, and linking to more resources. May 1st (May Day!) you can buy a Heavy Equipment Task Force t-shirt. Check out SKIDGINE today, and be the first to purchase a t-shirt at the May Day sale!

Spring 2017

We will cover more topics on mechanized forest operations in the coming months. Here you will find tips, techniques and examples for integrating incident resources. We will discuss mechanized task force tactics and lessons learned from land managers, fire overhead, equipment operators and contractors.